


Stop Pretending

by darumasama



Series: AUctober [26]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fake Dating, M/M, Nico is also an idiot, Will is an Idiot, being outed before ready mentioned, internalized homophobia slightly mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:27:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27212683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darumasama/pseuds/darumasama
Summary: AUctoberOctober 26th - Fake DatingWill is in way over his head when he agreed to be Nico's fake boyfriend.
Relationships: Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Lou Ellen Blackstone/Cecil Markowitz, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: AUctober [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949503
Comments: 6
Kudos: 100
Collections: Solangelo Auctober 2020





	Stop Pretending

**Author's Note:**

> I had so much fun writing this so I hope you enjoy it!

October 26th - Fake Dating

“I can’t do this anymore,” Will groaned, flopping onto his bed bonelessly, face buried into his hands. 

“Then you need to tell him, man.” Cecil offered, the bed dipping next to him signaling Cecil sitting down. “You have been fake dating for months. It was supposed to just be for the wedding so why did you continue it?”

Will sighed as he pulled his hands down his face, staring blankly at the ceiling. “Because it would be too awkward to break up for the holidays, then there was his birthday and now valentines day is just around the corner.”

“Which gives you the perfect excuse to confess your feelings for the guy.” Lou Ellen piped in, taking a set on the other side of him. “Come on, Will. You had feelings for Nico way before the whole fake dating thing.” She smirked, “It was the only reason why you agreed to help him in the first place.”

Will had befriended Nico di Angelo, freshman year of college and he had been head over heals for the guy since. The only reason why he hadn’t confessed his feelings for Nico was because he knew just how shy he was. Sure Nico was openly gay, but he wasn’t exactly screaming it to the heavens either. Then there was the fact that Nico wasn’t the biggest person when it came to any kind of physical contact or people in general. Will just counted his blessings that Nico even allowed him to be his ‘college friend’. So when the beginning of the fall semester started with Nico complaining his sister was bugging him about having a plus one to her wedding. Will, being the idiot he was, offered to be his fake boyfriend. It made perfect sense since Will hadn’t really met any of Nico’s friends or family. They went to school together, and Nico wasn’t exactly the most forthcoming with information about his private life. So their excuse had been Nico had been testing out a relationship with Will for a bit, but was a bit unsure if meeting everyone was too much for a new relationship. 

It was supposed to be a simple, go to the wedding as fake boyfriends then a couple of weeks later break up, but still remain friends. Of course, nothing ever went according to plan when Hazel insisted that Will join them for either Thanksgiving or Christmas, then they could meet Will’s family on the opposite holiday. Before he knew it, he had invited Nico’s family to his family’s Thanksgiving dinner back in Texas. Then his family would fly to New York to spend Christmas with Nico’s family. He couldn’t say no to any of this because he knew that his family would love to actually have a white Christmas and who was he to ruin that for them. Nico of course didn’t help anything in the matter by staying silent the entire time. Later, when they were alone, Will had asked him why he let him keep rambling like the idiot he was. At that, Nico had just shrugged and said it was probably for the better since the holidays seemed to be a big deal for both their families.

The holidays came and went with little incident, except it only made Will realize how screwed he was when he would have to finally break it off with Nico. He was so deep down the rabbit hole that there was no way that their friendship would ever be the same. They had shared one kiss on new years, but otherwise, pda was very limited. Something they had explained with that Nico didn’t like it to begin with. Sleeping in the same bed with Nico over the holidays had only cemented the fact that Will was in love with the guy. Who would have thought the guy that hated being touched in public would be such a cuddle magnet in bed? Of course, not consciously. Nico had always been asleep when he would wrap his arms around Will and cling to him like a baby koala. Thank the heavens above that Will was an early riser and Nico slept like the dead until noon which gave Will plenty of time to wiggle his way out of that embrace despite the fact he so desperately wanted to stay there. 

Lou Ellen nudged him, jolting out of his reminiscing and back to the present. “Will,” she sighed. “Just tell him over a romantic Valentine’s Day that I know you already have planned.”

Will blushed at that and looked away. She wasn’t wrong, he did have an amazingly romantic Valentine’s Day planned, doing everything that Nico loved. He would let Nico sleep in, then they would go to the arcade and comic book store, followed by going to the movies since there was a new horror movie out that Nico had been dying to see. All of that topped off with a nice dinner at Nico’s favorite Italian restaurant. 

“Seriously, man.” Cecil grinned down at him mischievously. “You don’t tell him, we might just have to.”

Will sat up, a heated scowl directed at Cecil. “Don’t you dare, Cecil. I don’t want to ruin my friendship with Nico over this.” He let out a heavy sigh, looking down at his hands in his lap. “I... what if this has all been fake for him the entire time?”

“Then he is an idiot,” Lou Ellen simply stated. “I mean, come on. You only need to pretend you two are dating whenever family is around, and yet you hang out with Nico more than us.”

“Yeah,” Cecil chimed in with a chuckle. “You are at Nico’s so much that you might as well be living there at this point. You sure you don’t have a dresser drawer dedicated to you yet? I know you have a toothbrush there.”

“Oral hygiene is very important.” Will muttered, while his mind was wondering how he got into such a predicament. Nico had been hard enough to befriend as it was. He really didn’t want to scare Nico away by admitting he had feelings for him. He would take just pretend dating Nico around family and being friends when no one was looking, over losing him forever. 

“Uhhhggg,” Will groaned loudly and probably a bit over dramatically as he pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes.

“Nothing is going to change if you never admit anything to him,” Lou Ellen scolded, getting off the bed. “You have until Valentine’s Day to admit your feelings for the guy otherwise we are getting involved.”

“Lou don’t...”

“Nope,” Lou Ellen cut in. “This has been going on long enough and frankly, I am tired of hearing you complain about it. It isn’t fair for you, for Nico, or either of your families if you keep letting this drag on.” She lightly kicked one of his legs dangling off the side of the bed. “So buck up buttercup and just tell Nico how you feel.”

Will sighed heavily, “Okay fine. But if this ruins my friendship with him then you two are going to have to deal with me crying for the rest of the semester.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Cecil chuckled, patting Will’s leg before getting up as well. “But I think Nico might like you back.” He chuckled again. “Otherwise, I am sure you would have pretended to break up by now.”

“Whatever,” Will sighed. He heard both of his friends groan as they left his room, leaving him alone to study or mope or both. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure what he was going to do anymore. All he knew was that Valentine’s Day was probably the last time he would be able to talk to Nico because he went and ruined their friendship by falling in love with him.

***

“So about Valentine’s Day,” Will said suddenly in the middle of their movie night. He purposely didn’t kept looking forward at the screen, afraid of what Nico’s expression might be.

“What about it?” Nico asked, popping some popcorn into his mouth casually, a small frown on his lips.

Will bit his lip nervously, hands clenched tightly in his lap. “Would you want to do something with me that day?” He asked softly, noticing Nico’s head snap in his direction a little too quickly with wide brown eyes.

“It is because Lou Ellen and Cecil are doing something romantic in the apartment!” Will lied quickly, waving his hands around for no reason. “I just would prefer not to be there.” He watched as Nico’s wide eyes blink a few times, before he shook his head and turned back to the television. 

“I guess you could crash here,” Nico offered, his lips set to a frown. “Just know I am not leaving the apartment that day. And I refuse to watch any romantic movies.”

“Why not?” Will asked a bit too quickly to stop himself instantly regretting it when he noticed Nico’s body tensing at bit at the question. 

“I hate Valentine’s Day,” Nico answered before aggressively shoving more popcorn into his mouth. 

Will blinked a few times as he processed the information Nico had just given him. He had already made reservations at the Italian restaurant and bought the tickets to the movie a while ago. Both seemed pretty stupid now considering that Nico wasn’t going to leave the apartment. He had done it because he was going to confess his feelings to Nico after everything, but now, he honestly was more lost as to what to do than before. 

He let out a tired sigh, eyes looking back at his hands once again in his lap. He must have looked pathetic because Nico’s hand rested over his own causing him to look up into worried brown eyes.

“Did I upset you?” Nico asked, worry laced in his voice as he scooted a bit closer.

Will shook his head, looking back down. “Just stressed I guess.”

“Your mood changed the moment I said I hated Valentine’s Day,” Nico stated, hand slightly tightening over his. “What did I do wrong?”

“You did nothing wrong,” Will quickly said, then sighed. “It’s just me. I’m a mess.”

Nico sighed and pulled away, much to Will’s disappointment. “If you must know, I hate Valentine’s Day because one of my distant cousins thought it would be funny to out me that day in front of the entire high school.”

“That’s awful!” Will said, looking over at Nico’s neutral expression. Something that he knew Nico did when he wanted to hide his emotions. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have brought any of that up.”

Nico shook his head, “It’s okay. You didn’t know. But that is why I try to hide away on that day. Bitter memories just come up I guess.” He bit his lip, a bit of a blush dusting his cheeks. “That and I am a bit jealous of all the couples.”

“Why are you jealous?”

“Because I’ll probably never have that,” Nico answered sadly, face turning away. “I’m too awkward and shy.”

Will scooted closer to Nico, “You just need to find the right person.” He bit his lip nervously trying to figure out whether it would be a good idea to admit his feelings to Nico now.

Nico laughed bitterly, “That’s never going to happen. I had to have you pretend to be my boyfriend because that is the closest I’m going to get.”

“What if I wasn’t pretending?” Will asked softly, trying to keep a reassuring smile on his face when Nico turned to look at him. Those dark chocolate eyes were wide, with unshed tears.

“W-what?”

“I like you Nico,” Will admitted, stubbornly keeping eye contact. “I liked you before you asked me to pretend to be your boyfriend. I...” He looked down, no longer able to look into those shocked brown eyes. “I fell in love with you through everything. I love you, Nico di Angelo.” He looked back up at Nico, the tears no longer contained to his eyes, freely running down his cheeks.

Will looked away, unable to read what kind of tears those were. “It’s okay if you don’t feel the same way... If you want to end our friendship I ....” He didn’t get to finish his sentence because Nico grabbed the sides of his face and pulled him into a kiss. It felt nice to have Nico’s lips on his own again.

Nico pulled away, “Do you really mean it?” His breath mixed with Will’s as they stared each other in the eye.

“Yes,” Will whispered with a loving smile.

Nico’s face softened into a beautiful smile, more tears streaming down his face. He pulled Will into a tight hug as he sobbed into his shoulder. Will automatically wrapped his arms around Nico, running his hand through Nico’s hair and rubbing comforting circles on his back as Nico crawled into his lap.

“This has to be a dream,” Nico whispered as his sobs subsided, but his grip on Will only tightened. 

“I hope it isn’t,” Will said, placing a soft kiss to the top of Nico’s head. “Because I will never want to wake up.”

“So what do we do now?”

“Just continue the way we were,” Will answered with a soft chuckle. “Only it is no longer pretend.”

Nico pulled away slightly, arms wrapped around Will’s neck still as he looked at him. “You would want to be my real boyfriend?”

“More than anything else in the world.” Will answered before he pulled Nico into a kiss with a smile.

**Author's Note:**

> They are both idiots. LOL I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Let me know what you think!!!!
> 
> OMG almost done with AUctober!!!! Can you believe it? I can see the finish line!!!! Thank you for all of you that have stuck with me through all of this!!!! I love you all!


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